Manor Lords – Guides Hub
Manor Lords is a medieval city-building and management sim, with a bit of strategy and combat mixed in. As a baron surrounded by a handful of villagers, you find yourself at the crossroads of destiny. Will you lead a prosperous town and expand your domain, or will you be lost in the annals of history? We hope it’s the former, so here’s our Manor Lords guides hub to help you with your goals.
Manor Lords guides hub
Starter guides
Game setup and difficulty – Find out which settings are great for those who are just starting out.
Beginner’s guide – We’ve got several tips for the long road ahead.
How to upgrade your settlement – Meet the needs of your citizens to achieve prosperity.
How to increase approval and population – Keep villagers happy to continue growing your town in Manor Lords.
Resources and materials
How to get more food – It’s imperative that you have a lot of food in stock.
Farming and harvests guide – Plant seeds, try a bit of crop rotation, and wait for the yields of your harvests.
Region Wealth and Treasury – Earn money through various methods, whether it’s from the contributions of your villagers or through your taxation policies.
Trading Posts and Trade Routes – Craft and produce goods, have a surplus, and sell them to distant lands for more cash.
How to make ale – Keep the beer flowing to satisfy the needs of the people.
How to increase clothing store supply – Make shoes, cloaks, and more.
Combat and expansion
Influence and claiming regions – Gather enough Influence so you can stake your claim on nearby regions.
Army and combat: Militia, retinue, and mercenaries – Arm your villagers, send out your men-at-arms, or find soldiers for hire as you face off against bandits and rival barons.
Manor Lords is currently an early access game. As such, some mechanics and features may change in due course. We’ll continue adding more articles to our Manor Lords guides hub in the future, so stay tuned.
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Revisit The Cuphead Show’s Gorgeous Animation With This Upcoming Art Book
After finding success as a stellar run-and-gun game featuring challenging and expressive bosses, Studio MDHR’s Cuphead went on to earn three seasons as a Netflix animated series. The 36-episode series was well-reviewed, offering a fun new take on the adventures of Cuphead and his brother Mugman while keeping all the classic cartoon charm intact. An upcoming book, The Art of the Cuphead Show, takes a closer look at the Netflix adaptation, and it’s currently available for preorder at Amazon. Whether you’re a fan of the show or the original game, consider giving it a closer look ahead of its September 3 release.
$50
The 256-page hardcover book is filled with art from The Cuphead Show. Along with vibrant images, you’ll get an in-depth look at the series as writers, designers, artists, and more members of the staff provide behind-the-scenes commentary. All three seasons of the show are featured in the book, so fans should find plenty to love here.
Dark Horse Books is the publisher behind The Art of the Cuphead Show, so we’d expect it to be produced to high standards and filled with high-quality artwork. If it’s anything like The Art of Cuphead, an art book focused on the video game that was also published by Dark Horse Books, it’ll be a real treat. The Art of Cuphead is a phenomenal gaming art book; if you’re a fan of the game and don’t have it on your shelf, you can grab a copy of Cuphead’s art book at Amazon for $33 (was $50). Flipping through The Art of Cuphead would be a good way to bide your free time while you wait for The Art of the Cuphead Show.
The Cuphead art books are far from the only books Studio MDHR’s popular game has spawned over the years. If there are young Cuphead fans in your house, you should check out the Cuphead middle grade novels and graphic novels. There are even Cuphead Show books for beginning readers and a Little Golden Book.
More Cuphead books
If you want to add some Cuphead collectibles to your shelf, Youtooz has a series of vinyl figures that look pretty awesome. We’d also recommend checking out the adorably chunky Club Mocchi Mocchi Cuphead plush and Cuphead: Fast Rolling Dice Game, a fun family-friendly board game for kids and adults.
Cuphead figures and plushies
Xbox Reveals Modular Proteus Controller For Gamers With Disabilities
As part of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Microsoft announced the modular $300 Proteus Controller, a Designed for Xbox controller created by peripherals company ByoWave. The controller comes as a kit with multiple “snap and play” parts that can be configured to fit disabled gamers’ needs.
The kit comes with a number of pieces that can be connected in various configurations, with ByoWave’s store page claiming over 100 million variations can be achieved on the controller. Each kit comes with two Power Cubes–the building blocks of a controller that each house a battery and allow for Bluetooth connectivity–and two Analog Cubes, which provide the left and right analog sticks.
The controller is designed to work out of the box with the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows 10 and 11. The Proteus is expected to start shipping in Fall 2024, and is retailing for $300, though ByoWave is offering a discount to $255 for a limited number of preorders.
In the same blog post for Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Microsoft also announced it would be releasing an firmware update for its Adaptive Controller to add support for more accessibility peripherals. “Each port now supports up to 12 buttons, a second stick, and a hat switch,” Xbox says of the update, which will start rolling out to Xbox Insiders soon, with a general release over the next few months.
Hades 2’s First Patch Adds Major Quality-Of-Life Improvement
Hades 2 released in early access last week, and now has received its first patch. Supergiant Games is already proving the utility of its early-access period, with a majority of Patch 1’s changes implemented as a result of player feedback–including one major quality-of-life change.
The first patch makes resource-gathering far less of a chore, which will be a relief to everyone who found the original process too grindy. “You now can gather from any resource point once you have unlocked the corresponding Gathering Tool,” the patch notes read. “You now can Prioritize any available Tool in the Training Grounds to make its resources appear as often as before, while resources for Tools you do not Prioritize will appear far less often.”
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The update should go a long way towards solving players’ frustrations with resource gathering, making it easier to target the resources you really need from any given run.
The update has also made a number of changes to the player’s Dash and Sprint. “Your Sprint is innately faster and turning is more responsive,” the patch notes read, also noting that abilities that boost the Sprint have also been re-scaled. The Swift Runner tarot card has also received a new bonus, and will now make your Dash immediate as well.
The standard Dash has also gotten an overall upgrade, with it now being more reliable to Dash out of many attack-recovery animations. Supergiant has also tweaked the Dash to make it easier to cross chasms in a certain biome of the game.
The patch includes a handful of other small quality-of-life fixes and balance tweaks in response to players’ early feedback, such as being able to see your current Gold amount from a Well of Charon without having to check your Boon Info. A number of bugs have also been fixed up in Patch 1.
Check out the full patch notes below, though beware they do contain some spoilers. If you’re looking for help on your journey through the Underworld, check out our Hades 2 guides hub.
Hades II: Early Access Patch 1
Note:π’ indicates a change inspired by community feedback! (Almost everything in this case…!)
General Gameplay
π’ Your Sprint is innately faster and turning is more responsive; re-scaled abilities that boost this
π’ You now can Dash out of many attack recovery animations more reliably
π’ You now can gather from any resource point once you have unlocked the corresponding Gathering Tool; you now can Prioritize any available Tool in the Training Grounds to make its resources appear as often as before, while resources for Tools you do not Prioritize will appear far less often
Altar of Ashes
π’The Swift Runner: now also makes your Dash immediate (note the faster speed means you are invulnerable for very slightly less time); re-scaled Sprint speed bonus since Sprint is innately faster now
Level Design & Environments
π’ It is easier to Dash across chasms in Oceanus
π’ Driftwood resources are more common in the Rift of Thessaly
Menus & UI
π’ Using a Well of Charon displays your current Gold without the need to check your Boon Info
π’ The Grasp Upgrade Tutorial in the Altar of Ashes will repeat if ignored
π’ Added Patch Notes option to the Main Menu (where you can read this!)
Miscellaneous
π’ Early encounters with Eris are less likely to occur; she also drops something of value…
π’ Related, if this already occurred, look for a one-time bonus in the Crossroads while Eris is present
π’ Entries in the Book of Shadows are generally easier to reveal
π’ You can gift Echo without having to wait around as long after conversing
π’ Adjusted Animal Familiar upgrades invalidated by the Gathering Tool changes above
π’ In the Hades Flashback, a hint will eventually play for players who don’t realize they are in control
π’ Improved mouse selection in various cases
π’ Improved support for some additional controllers
β’ Abilities that boost Sprint speed display more-accurate numbers (generally lower than before)
β’ Updates and fixes to translations in some languages
Bug Fixes
π’ Fixed several issues with Dark Side (Selene)
π’ Fixed Sun Worshiper (Apollo) sometimes preventing new foes from spawning
π’ Fixed Fire Extinguisher (Hestia) not dealing damage as expected
π’ Fixed Sister Blades Omega Attack not hitting Chronos reliably from certain angles
π’ Fixed Satyr Hoplites retaining the ability to block while afflicted with Twilight Curse (Selene)
π’ Fixed various cases of foes sometimes spawning out of bounds
π’ Fixed camera zoom-in getting stuck vs. Polyphemus in certain situations
π’ Fixed cases where you could Dash out of bounds in the Crossroads
π’ Fixed Fishing Pier events in the Crossroads not passing Whiles like other similar events
π’ Fixed autolock not clearing as expected while using mouse controls
π’ Fixed keyboard inputs sometimes getting stuck unexpectedly
π’ Fixed several input issues switching from gamepad to mouse-and-keyboard controls
π’ Fixed several issues playing in ultrawide resolutions
π’ Fixed some visual effects vs. Chronos lingering between phases or after the fight
π’ Fixed a MelinoΓ« voice line repeating unexpectedly around the City of Ephyra Bat Cages
π’ Fixed various rare crashes
π’ Fixed several text errors
π’ Other minor fixes
Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller Receives Massive Discount, Will Likely Sell Out
If you’re looking for the best controller for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and arguably PC, too, Microsoft’s Elite Series 2 is the answer. Though it retails for a fairly lofty $180, the Xbox Elite Series 2 is currently on sale for only $108 on Verizon’s online store. You don’t need to be a Verizon subscriber to take advantage of this deal, and it comes with free two-day shipping. Since this is the best Xbox Elite Series 2 deal we’ve seen in 2024, we don’t expect this to be available for very long.
Verizon also has great deals on the Robot White Xbox Wireless Controller ($36) and the Pulse Red edition ($39). Those controllers typically go for $60 and $65, respectively, and we rarely see them discounted to less than $45.
The Elite Series 2 offers the same great ergonomics as the standard Xbox Wireless Controller, but it has a better build quality, a textured grip, and some awesome customization features. Inside the box, you’ll find four removable back paddles, an extra D-pad, and four additional analog stick caps that can be swapped on the fly. All of the extra components are neatly stored inside the included hardshell controller carrying case.
The Elite Series 2 also has trigger locks that reduce the pull length of RT and LT, which can be useful for certain types of games like first-person shooters. You can use the Xbox Accessories App on console and PC to save profiles to your controller and remap inputs.
Super Mario RPG Gets Huge Discount Ahead Of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’s Launch Next Week
Super Mario RPG for Nintendo Switch is on sale for a low price at Amazon and Walmart. You can grab a physical copy of the beloved turn-based RPG for only $43 at Amazon and Walmart. This is the lowest price we’ve seen at a major retailer since the modernized Super Nintendo hit launched last holiday. It’s also a pretty great time to dive into the world of Mario role-playing games, as the Switch version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door releases next week.
Incredibly faithful to the beloved original, Super Mario RPG is a charming Switch game enhanced with several quality-of-life changes that make it more approachable to newcomers. Mario RPG veterans will appreciate the series of post-game fights that really test your prowess. Beyond those additions and tweaks, Super Mario RPG on Switch plays very similarly as the iconic original on Super Nintendo. The excellent turn-based combat still feels great today, the characters and writing are heartfelt and humorous, and the world design still has that classic Nintendo charm.
GameSpot’s Super Mario RPG review found the modernized version of the SNES classic to be a delight. “Super Mario RPG is one of the wildest games in Nintendo’s catalog. Loaded with eccentric characters like a Santa-esque big bad, random bouts of dark comedy–Toad cosplayers tickle as a form of torture and a four-eyed dog swallows you whole and comments on the taste–and moment-to-moment gameplay that is as raucous as it is eclectic, Super Mario RPG memorably capped off the SNES lifecycle. Fittingly, the new Switch version is one of the weirdest remasters I’ve ever played. Its surface-level appearance as a modern Mario game is merely a facade. Relentlessly faithful to the original, Super Mario RPG is a bold and largely successful experiment.”
If you haven’t preordered Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Nintendo Switch and are interested in owning a physical copy, it’s worth noting that Amazon has been out of stock for over a month, and Walmart will only be selling the game in stores and has canceled online preorders for at least some customers. However, you can still preorder a copy of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Switch at Best Buy, Target, and GameStop ahead of its May 23 release.
Pokemon: Ultimate Journeys, Ash Ketchum’s Last Adventure, Is Up For Preorder At Amazon
Though it’s not seeing a discount, the Ultimate Journeys DVD is now up for preorder. As mentioned, this season is particularly notable to Pokemon fans, as it brings the story of Ash and Pikachu to a close. It’s a lengthy season too, clocking in at 54 episodes. You’ll also get episodes 43-54 of Pokemon: To Be A Pokemon Master, along with clean opening and ending special features. The collection releases on July 23.